Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed

The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system was a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. It is primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs), while in boost phase.

It made its final flight on February 14, 2012 to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona to be prepared and kept in storage at the "Boneyard."

First flight July 18, 2002

On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 successfully fired this laser in flight, hitting its target.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on August 18, 2009 successfully fired the high-energy laser aboard the aircraft in flight for the first time.

On February 11, 2010 in a test at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, the system successfully destroyed a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile.